micaelamariem's reviews
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Mythos: The Greek Myths Retold by Stephen Fry

funny informative reflective slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? N/A
Strong character development? N/A
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

5.0

It’s hard to review this since it’s basically a straight retelling of Greek myths.
But the narration was easy to follow and mixed in with relatable humor. It was the perfect audiobook, and I wish there were more myths included in this because it helped me understand easier the beliefs of Ancient Greece.
And I LOVE Greek mythology.

Content Warnings

All of Us Villains by C.L. Herman, Amanda Foody

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adventurous challenging dark emotional tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

I adored this. It’s basically the Hunger Games with magic.
The characters were all multifaceted and had tragic consciences, perfect for kids raised to be villains.
The relationships with each other were believable and messy, with attraction and betrayal and doubt and loose alliances.
The writing style and world building were amazing, providing a deep history of the magical tournament while giving a spooky gothic atmosphere to contend with.
There were plot twists that I could see coming, but maybe that’s because I read about. And I’ll admit the book had a slow start but over time it really hooked me in!
Highly recommend, especially if you liked the hunger games and you like magic.

Content Warnings

Five Broken Blades by Mai Corland

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adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.75

Today I come at you with another fantasy review. This is a book I chose as my Book of the Month in May, and since then, have seen all over Instagram. This book is HYPED. But is it worth it? Here are my thoughts.

In case you haven't heard of it, Five Broken Bladesis a Korean-inspired fantasy that follows multiple perspectives of six Yusan citizens, summoned together for one task: to kill the king. While agreeing to work together, they all have their own secrets and motivations for this coup. A royal, a spy, a thief, a poison maid, a strongman, and a noble. Will they succeed or will they all betray each other?

Before I jump into my review, a quick note about the author. Mai Corland is a Korean-American attorney and writer. She has also published under the pen name Meredith Ireland. Currently, Mai lives in New York with her family.

I recently discovered an amazing rating system from Hatters Bookish Blog (found on Pinterest) called CAWPILE, where you rate each tenet to create an overall rating: Characters, Atmosphere/Setting, Writing Style, Plot, Intrigue, Logic/Relationships, and Enjoyment. I'm going to try this out.

Characters: There are a few things I'm a sucker for. One of those is a third person multiple perspective story, where we can see where everyone is coming from before coming together. In this way, I learned to love these characters, or at the very least, understand their nuanced motivations. And I have a soft spot for Aeri. I couldn't relate to her more. She had her own secrets, but she was awkward and loved pretty things, and I loved that about her. Overall, I'd give the characters and their development an 8/10.

Atmosphere: The worldbuilding in this novel was fantastic. Of course it was; it came with a map! I love how Corland developed a whole kingdom with the complicated politics of having different sectors that counts would rule over and where different rules and beasts roamed each specific location. The way the characters had to travel to the capitol gave us a perfect excuse to glimpse the cultural differences between each place. This tenet gets a 10/10.

Writing Style: There were things I liked and disliked about the style. At first, I loved it. I loved some of the vivid descriptions. I love how each character had their own distinct voice. But around the halfway mark, the writing style lagged a bit as the characters tried to relate to each other, and some of it fell flat. (For example, the constant repeating of "but I can't love her or him, love is a weakness, etc." drove me crazy). Writing gets a 7/10.

Plot: The plot, after all, is what first drew me to the book. I love reading about spies, assassins, heists, etc. Plus plots like these provide ample opportunity for my favorite trope: found family. This plot did not disappoint and there were plenty of obstacles and secondary plot points that the characters needed to overcome. Plot gets a 10/10.

Intrigue: I was satisfied that there were secrets, betrayals, and paranoia between all of the characters that amped up the stakes. However, I am afraid a lot of the betrayal that DID occur was too obvious. The plot twists were ones I could see coming, except for the set up for the second book--which yes, I'll still be pre-ordering. So, I guess, I'll give intrigue a 6/10.

Logic/Relationships: This was the most disappointing aspect of the book. As aforementioned, found family is my favorite trope. But the character's relationships too each other grew too fast too soon that it felt unrealistic. Some of the character's decisions in regards to each other didn't make sense with their own arc and personalities. Even if some of that could be slowed down, I think it would make much more sense. This tenet will get a 4/10.

Enjoyment: Despite some of the hang-ups, I still really enjoyed this book and always wanted to keep reading instead of putting the book down. The pace was fast, plot interesting, characters relatable, and I was immersed into the world. I love fantasy and I did love this. 9/10 on enjoyment.

According to Hatters Bookish Blog, the next step is to add up the scores and divide by 7, which ended with 7.7/10, or on a five star scale, a 3.85.

But for purposes of rating on places like Goodreads, I will be rounding up to four stars. And I do recommend this book to high fantasy lovers and those who similarly like morally grey characters, found family, and political intrigue.

The next book, Four Ruined Realms, comes out in January.

Content Warnings

Darling Girls by Sally Hepworth

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dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

This was a hard book to rate because I did enjoy reading it (though perhaps “enjoy” isn’t the right word as there are major depictions of child abuse, so trigger warnings, folks); it kept me in suspense, wanting to know more.
Except as it turns out the “more” was exactly as I predicted. The plot twist, sans epilogue, was pretty much everything I thought it would be. So I’m proud of myself but also disappointed. I felt like there could have been so much more.
What I did appreciate was the way trauma was presented and how it can be carried through life in different ways. That was realistic and hopefully eye opening to the audience.

Content Warnings

Heir of Fire by Sarah J. Maas

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

It was time for my annual dive into the Throne of Glass universe.

Seriously, I'm averaging a book a year in this series, oops.

Heir of Fire by Sarah J. Maas, published by Bloomsbury, is the third book in the Throne of Glass series. As such, I won't be able to talk about this with some spoilers for the first two books so be warned!

In Heir of Fire, Celaena goes to Wendlywn but ends up in the land of faerie, facing her aunt and her magic, Dorian begins to understand his powers, and Chaol struggled to pick a side.

I had a really good time reading this, much better than the first two books! I don't know if it's because I didn't much like my last two reads so this was better by comparison, or that the writing style got a lot better. Perhaps it was a bit of both.

What I think made Heir of Fire a good read was that the story could finally progress because we are now acquainted with the world and characters. The first two books were really just a set up. Now, we're getting into the beginning of an epic war. The multiple points of view added a lot of depth to the story, too, and was done in a fantastic way that kept the plotline still straightforward. We also learn a lot about Celaena's past, that connects us to her powers, her birthright, and her trauma, and makes her past actions make sense.

I was also stoked to meet a couple of characters I heard about in social media but hadn't yet seen in the books. First and foremost, Rowan. I started out hating him, but over the course of the story, loved him. A slow burn for the reader. A lovely sarcastic asshole. And the other character was Manon, terrifying yet also might be the catalyst for change the witch covens need to see. I'm excited to see how her storyline will cross with Celaena (who after this review, I think I can start calling Aelin, if only because the spelling is easier).

I really enjoyed Celaena's pov chapters--it's mainly her story, after all. I also adored Dorian's. I didn't like him until he got magic, but now I like how his arc is progressing. He really doesn't deserve the tragedies that happen. Chaol, while once being my favorite, had the most boring POV's, but maybe that was because it was very military-like, which befitted his character.

Despite the slight boredom with him, I still really loved this book. I daydreamed about it driving and missed my turn. Any book that can have me do that has to be five stars right?

Guess I'll be back next year for Assassin's Blade, because I really need to read that prequel before continuing with the series, much as I want to!

Content Warnings

The Maid by Nita Prose

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mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.0

I enjoyed the first 50 pages and, after that, everything went downhill. I understand the author was trying to present a neurodivergent main character but that doesn’t mean the character had to be flat out dumb. I felt like the representation was almost demeaning to those who are neurodivergent. And her character and the plot was just wholly unbelievable. Except for the “whodunit.” Disappointingly, that was obvious. There wasn’t really a major twist or hook. I was disappointed, given all the hype with this book.
But it should be noted; I don’t usually read mysteries so perhaps that bias has soured my enjoyment as well.

Content Warnings

The Lost Village by Camilla Sten

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dark mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.0

This book had so much potential but it just fell short. The one good thing about it was the descriptions. Very beautifully written when it came to the scenery. I found though that I enjoyed the flashbacks way more than the present day chapters, but there weren’t a lot of flashbacks. I just found myself very uninterested in what happened to the characters. And ironically, while the author was trying to shed light on mental health issues, I think instead she portrayed some dangerous stigmas.

Content Warnings

Small Angels by Lauren Owen

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I really enjoyed this book! If life wasn’t so busy I would have devoured it faster. It was perfectly atmospheric for a gothic horror, with the beautiful knowledge that all readers learn: stories have power, both good and bad. I loved the way that the forest Mockbeggar was its own character. I always think it’s really powerful when a setting acts as a character and this book was no exception. I equally loved how each character was deeply flawed and the horror aspect played on these flaws (because sometimes the most horrifying is the stories we believe about ourselves). The only reason this book isn’t five stars is because so many problems could have been solved earlier had the characters JUST COMMUNICATED with each other for goodness’ sake.

Content Warnings

Weyward by Emilia Hart

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

At first, I didn’t think I was going to like this book, but I slowly fell in love with the characters and what they were trying to say. Essentially, the book is about three women in the same bloodline who have suffered at the hands at men but discovered their own nature magic to help them. Though the book comes with a lot of trigger warnings, it’s important to note that these women are strong not because of their circumstances but in spite of them. They find strength in their connection to each other and other women. I liked the vivid details of the story, especially as the women connect with nature, though I really am not a bug person myself. I like the revenge the women took on the men (or justice perhaps?) and I like the circular ending. I think it was a bit slow, and perhaps there could have been more details with the women outside of their experiences with men and magic, but otherwise I did enjoy it.

Content Warnings

The Will of the Many by James Islington

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adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

This book, though it had a slow start, ended up having me in a chokehold. I have to thank my friend for getting it for me last Christmas because it might be the best book of 2024 for me.
The worldbuilding was so intense and phenomenal. Though there was obviously many layers to the world, which was built off of Ancient Rome standards, it didn’t feel too complicated or over explained.
The characters were all multifaceted and deeply flawed which i appreciated.
The overarching themes, though, are what I most resonated with. When fighting against a broken society, how do you stop yourself from becoming just another broken society? How do you fix the system when it’s the people who are broken? How do you stay true to your morals when you’re being threatened and blackmailed? The question of ancient philosophers that one.
And speaking of Ancient Rome and Greece, I do like the clever use of deus ex Machina that didn’t feel like a cop out but seemed like a clever way to call back to the Ancient Rome inspiration.
And I did get very connected to the story line so the plot twists at the end wrenched my heart and had me gasping.
My fellow fantasy and dark academia readers, you need to check this one out 🤓

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micaelamariem's reviews 728 reviews

micaelamariem's reviews
728 reviews